Does Coconut Oil Help IBS?

• Nope. It's pure fat, and all fats are GI stimulants.
  
  
• Why? With IBS, fats often trigger your gastrocolic reflex to overreact.
  
  
• Result? Spasms, cramps, diarrhea, gas, rebound constipation, or all of the above.
  
  
• A low fat - NOT fat free - diet is important for keeping IBS calm.
  
  
• Choose heart-healthy plant or fish oils, never large quantities, always with a soluble fiber foundation to keep bowel function stable.
  
  
• Coconut oil counts as a heart-healthy fat, but it's still a potential IBS trigger.
  
  
• Coconut cream, milk, and shredded coconut are also high fat - limit or just avoid.
  
  
• (Tip! You can fake coconut milk for cooking by adding coconut extract (at grocery stores by the vanilla extract) to flavor soy, rice, oat or other non dairy milks.)
  
  
• Coconut water, however, is virtually fat free, and safe for IBS.
  
  
• Coconut oil may actually have anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal benefits.
  
  
• But, by definition IBS does not involve inflammation or a fungal overgrowth. A finding of these would actually preclude a diagnosis of IBS in the first place.
  

Tip Takeaway: Use coconut oil in small amounts only, always with your soluble fiber foundation foods, just as you would other heart-healthy plant fats.

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